


待望

by ryoseirui



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Fluff, Hugs, I also know the trip to Narita/Narita in general too well, Kissing, M/M, tagging is a struggle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 20:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16227032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryoseirui/pseuds/ryoseirui
Summary: 待望 (taibō): waiting eagerly; long-awaited.--There was a "challenge" in the group chat to write a 500 word fic of Ash and Eiji hugging at the airport. Kinda went above and beyond that.





	待望

**Author's Note:**

> It’s Rui. 
> 
> It’s been a while.

_Eiji is waiting._

He was so excited that he couldn't sleep, but at the very least, he knew he wouldn't oversleep and miss his alarm for the first train to Narita that morning. Around 5 AM, he gets out of bed, getting dressed and ready for the day ahead.

Just before 6 AM, he makes his way to Jimbocho Station, just a couple of blocks away from his apartment. His apartment wasn’t as accessible as other places, but he knew this place would be perfect… for him. Jimbocho was known to be center to many bookstores and publishing companies, and you can find books of almost everything. It could help the other calm down whenever he needed it. Moreover, it was relatively quiet and peaceful compared to many other places in Tokyo. Sure, Akihabara was nearby, but it was just far enough away that the noise and lights wouldn’t be too distracting.

He gets to the station early, beating rush hour by a long shot; the only other person by the ticket gate is the station manager. He pulls out his train card from his pocket and taps it on the sensor. The small flaps of the gate swing outward, allowing Eiji to pass through. He walks down the stairs to get to the Hanzomon Line’s platform, and he stands there.

_Eiji is waiting._

At 6:15 AM, a silver train with a bold purple line that stretched on every car comes into the station, exactly on time as it said on the sign. Eiji walks on, and there are a few other people already onboard. They’re all dressed in suits, a look of exhaustion on their faces, most likely on their way to their companies on the early shift. He sits down at an empty seat next to the door. He won’t be on for long. 20 minutes at most.

The doors of the train close, and he’s off in the direction of Chiba, just east of Tokyo. The train ride runs smoothly, Eiji feels like he isn’t even moving at some times. More people get on at each stop, filing into the train neatly, either taking seats or standing away from the door so that people can easily get on and off.

Eiji is staring off into the distance until the train announcement catches his attention. “The next stop is… Oshiage Sky Tree.” Eiji prepares to get off the train, sitting up to let the person standing in front of him know that he’ll be getting off at the next station.

The train pulls into Oshiage station, and Eiji is shuffling to get off. Transferring to the next train was a little tricky, since it’s not the same company as the Hanzomon Line. He taps his card at the gate again, and walks toward the Keisei gate, preparing to tap his card a third time. He notices that there are more people coming in and out of the station now that’s it’s almost 7 AM.

_Eiji is waiting._

The train, once again, is on time, and Eiji is able to find a seat. The ride from here to the Narita Airport station will take able an hour according to the timetable that was posted in the station, so Eiji decides to pull out his phone. There’s a calendar reminder written as a notification when he unlocks his phone, and Eiji chooses to dismiss it. _He’s already on his way._

He opens up Twitter, and starts scrolling through the tweets that appear on his screen. There are tweets from his friends, from news accounts, and just random accounts that he found amusing. Every once in awhile, he smiles at something that he scrolls past. However, time is slow, and by the time Eiji gets bored, only 15 minutes have passed. _Maybe I’m too excited._ He sighs. _Besides, his flight doesn’t land until the afternoon._

Eiji puts his phone away and decides that the best way to make the train ride go faster is to close his eyes and try to make up for the sleep he lost last night. He lays his head back onto the window behind him, taking a few deep breaths before shutting his eyes. The train car is silent, allowing his body to be at peace, but his mind is still running.

It hasn’t been that long since he came back to Japan from New York. But it’s been lonely. He has his family and friends, but his heart knows deep down inside who he wants to see the most. Who fills his mind every night before he sleeps, whose messages are the first thing he sees when he wakes up in the morning.

To finally see him again… he thinks about the various things he wants to take him to, like to do all night karaoke together in the middle of Shinjuku’s Kabukicho. Or when it’s New Years, they can go do Hatsumode together, and wait to see the sunrise. He thinks about the various places they can go together, like Hakone in Autumn, or Kyoto in the spring.

Together.

_With Ash._

_Eiji is waiting._

Unable to fall asleep, he opens his eyes, but is pleasantly surprised that there’s about 10 minutes left before they reach the airport. He sits up straight, and lets the remaining time pass. When they pull into the station, he eagerly gets off. He follows the signs that lead to the final ticket gate of this trip, and he taps his card once more, the remaining amount showing on the other sides of the gate. Eiji makes a mental note to refill his card later.

He’s here. Narita International Airport. It’s just a bit before 8 AM, and he has until 1 PM until the flight lands. Considering passport control, baggage claim, and everything else, Ash could be coming out of the gate at around 2 PM. He has about 6 hours until they’re reunited.

Eiji sighs. _Maybe getting on the first train wasn’t the best idea._ Thankfully Narita has a lot to offer; benches all around, electrical outlets to charge electronics, a 7-11 in the basement, and even a _Yoshinoya_ if he got that hungry. His stomach starts to grumble, and he decides to take up on that offer. Hopefully it’ll kill enough time.

\--

_Eiji is waiting._

After breakfast, he decided to find a place to camp out. He’s been sitting at a bench in the Terminal 2 arrival gate for almost two hours now, bored out of his mind. It’s not like Ash has service on the plane, so they can’t even message during this time. Eiji gives up his seat, and opts to walk around the terminal for a while. There’s not much there, just a lot of waiting spaces and help desks. There’s definitely more inside, where the passengers are waiting to depart.

Eiji sighs once more. _Maybe there’s something interesting in the 7-11 downstairs, like a magazine or manga of some sort._ The waiting game is the worst game he’s ever played. It’s even worse because he really can’t wait any longer to see Ash. But time is cruel, and makes minutes feel like eternities.

He shakes his head and heads on the escalator going down.

\--

_Eiji is waiting._

Any moment now, his love will be passing through the big, heavy doors of the gate. The gate that welcomed everyone to Japan. The sign said that the flight landed safely, and Eiji already got a message from Ash a while ago saying that he was waiting for his luggages at the claim.

Crowds of people have been passing through, but none of them have been him. Eiji’s eyes are wide open, on the lookout for that familiar blond hair, the stature that he knew so well. More and more people come out, and Eiji wonders if he even _blinked_ the past 10 minutes.

And then he sees it.

Those jade eyes. They’re looking right at him.

Eiji’s heart jumps, as well as his physical body. Without thinking twice, he runs into the crowd that was walking the opposite direction. He maneuvers through the passengers trying to make their way to their ride into Tokyo. Ash picks up the pace, hurriedly walking towards Eiji as fast as his luggages would allow him.

When they were just meters apart, Ash lets go of the handles, and holds his arms wide open.

Eiji’s weight crashes into Ash, but Ash is strong enough to keep them from falling over. Eiji can hear Ash chuckle as they collide, and the soft sound fills Eiji’s heart. He wraps his arms tightly around Ash, and Ash is holding onto him with the intention of never wanting to let go. As if everyone else in the busy airport had disappeared, the world around them had faded; the only person that matters to them is right there in their arms. The world stopped just for this moment.

 _Nothing has changed_ , Eiji notes. The smell of his clothes, though he was on a plane for 14 hours straight, still smell fresh. There’s little traces of the detergent they chose back when Eiji was still in New York. Magnolia and poppy was the one they decided on together, and Eiji was happy that Ash was still using it. The smell was so comforting to Eiji, the warmth of the fragrance enveloping him. Eiji rubs his face into Ash’s shirt and takes a deep breath.

“You’re really focused on my smell, onii-chan,” Ash calls Eiji out, a teasing tone in his voice. _There’s definitely a smirk on his face,_ Eiji thinks _._ He’s flustered, and pulls away slightly so he can scold Ash.

“It’s been months since we’ve seen each other and the first thing you do is make fun of me?!” Eiji frowns, but it soon fades away as he takes a better look of the man in his arms. Ash’s blond fringe had grown a little bit, framing his already handsome face nicely. His expression was soft, green eyes looking at Eiji with so much affection and admiration. The ends of his lips were curled up slightly, clearly happy to be with Eiji again, to have Eiji in his arms once more.

As Eiji continues to stare at Ash, he doesn’t notice that Ash removed his left hand from Eiji’s waist. It isn’t until it reaches the side of Eiji’s face that his gaze is broken, his eyes now on Ash’s warm hand cradling the side of his face.

“I’ve missed you, Eiji.” Ash’s voice is barely above a whisper, but despite the large amount of people passing by, the amount of chattering around them, Eiji can hear him clearly. Ash’s hands tenderly brush Eiji’s hair to the side: it’s an unspoken question. Eiji nods ever so slightly, and Ash moves in closer.

Public displays of affection are looked down upon in Japan. But Eiji could care less about social etiquette right now.

Ash gently presses his lips against Eiji’s, both of their eyes fluttering shut. It’s chaste, but full of love, of the longing that had built up over the weeks of being apart. Eiji tightened his arms around Ash. After a few moments, they broke apart the kiss, but  still held each other. Eiji was the first to say something this time.

“I love you.”

_The wait was over._

**Author's Note:**

> I’m back in Boston nowadays. I’m a Japanese language major now, and my graduation date is set in May 2019. I’m ready to graduate and hopefully move back to Japan.
> 
> ... I'm sorry for running away and disappearing.
> 
> I still want to write.
> 
> This time around, I'll face everything head on. I want to be stronger.


End file.
